EDIT: All instances of the term “pyramid scheme” were omitted from this article. All subsequent posts regarding this term should be disregarded. I should have chosen my words more wisely. Thank you all for pointing this out to me. I appreciate the constructive criticism.
There is a PDF version available: 2shared - download Empire Arcadia - The Gamer’s Circle Of Manipulation.pdf
This PDF version has the appended “Evidence” section: http://www.2shared.com/document/M8OJYIQS/Empire_Arcadia_-_The_Gamers_Ci.html
Ignore the flashy buttons and click the “Save file to your PC: click here” link on the lower right corner.
Introduction
With recent events in the fighting game community, there is no doubt that anyone following the fighting game scene has heard of Empire Arcadia. Although Empire Arcadia may be illustrious, many do not actually know what the organization really is or how the organization operates. In an attempt to inform the community of the organization?s structure, history, and practices, this article will be dedicated to clearing up misconceptions about Empire Arcadia through direct unambiguous language.
What is Empire Arcadia?
Empire Arcadia is (according to their website) ?the home of the greatest gamers? which in itself is pretty vague. With many people confused as to what Empire Arcadia does, video interviews and an MTV special have shown that Empire Arcadia is a company dedicated to ?preserving gaming culture and making sure it stands the test of time.? Again, this explanation really does not give the viewer any specific details about what Empire Arcadia actually does. The only thing people are left to make conclusions on are what they see and hear about the company.
Empire Arcadia can be thought of like a fraternity in a college. They take the same classes as everyone else (play the same games), party with an exclusive set of people (play games amongst each other), take the same tests (attend the same tournaments), host parties (hold tournaments), and have letters to illustrate their alliance (EMP). What separates fraternities from normal students are the resources that are available to the fraternities. Fraternities usually have test banks, good relations with professors, et cetera. But in Empire Arcadia?s case, there are no significant resources. Countless videos show that the Empire Arcadia gamers play on dated hardware and occupy substandard housing in Brooklyn. Sure they get to play games with each other, but what separates them from other people that invite their friends over to play video games? Nothing.
It is important to take motive into account when starting an organization. In general, people want to feel special and different from everyone else. Empire Arcadia is no different in this aspect. They play the same games as everyone else, yet they want to feel important about what they are doing so they give it a name. When one really thinks about what Empire Arcadia is, they realize that it is no different from an online clan. They are a group of gamers that share the same prefix (EMP) on their gamer handles and practice (in general) in the same location. While this is one of the motives behind the inception Empire Arcadia, it does not truly explain why the organization exists. This will be further explored later in the article.
The Structure of the Regime
Empire Arcadia is composed of two divisions, upper management which is solely Triforce (The Emperor) and workers which are the EMP Gamers (Knights and Valkyries). The upper management deal with any administrative matters and the gamers do what they do best, they play games. There is more to this structure that meets the eye. In the interest of making money, Empire Arcadia would want to attain talent in a variety of gaming genres to create potential income. It is often boasted that ?Empire Arcadia has the greatest gamers in any genre.? There is actually simple logic behind this. If Empire Arcadia?s only obligation is to provide a place for gamers to practice, which happens to be their place of residence, it would be in their best interest to get as many gamers as possible. It costs Empire Arcadia nothing to ?sign? a new member. So when Empire Arcadia signs a new member they are gaining potential return on their investment. Since signing a new Empire Arcadia member costs nothing, anything made from the gamer is profit.
One could think of Empire Arcadia as a circle of manipulation, Triforce is the founder and finds gamers with talent to work for him. So, Triforce himself is the one who benefits the most. Like in all markets very few succeed: Justin Wong is the exception to the rule of the fighting game market, yet Empire Arcadia makes it seem as if he were the norm. He is most likely used as an example to show potential gamers that stardom could in fact be a reality. This effectively strengthens the circle of the organization. As one dives deeper into Empire Arcadia and becomes more invested one realizes what the structure is like and they come to a crossroad: Do you quit or do you try to preserve what already exists? Many have taken the latter. With no other options available, the Empire?s self-preservation structure succeeds. Players with talent continued to support Empire Arcadia and the ARC and tried to acquire new talent to ?expand the empire.? This all changed when Evil Geniuses, a professional gaming company, focused their attention on the fighting game genre. A good portion of the star players, including Justin Wong, have left Empire Arcadia and have signed with Evil Geniuses, effectively starting the collapse Empire Arcadia. In due time, Empire Arcadia will only be a 40 year old man with a Power Glove.
The ARC
The ARC is just a residential building in one of the worst parts in Brooklyn. This is where some of the Empire Arcadia members live and practice. There are stories of people getting robbed on their way to the ARC, but these may be rumors. Empire Arcadia members have the exclusive ability to play in the ARC no questions asked. While ?normal? gamers need to know someone in Empire Arcadia or bring food to get permission to get in. The current ARC in Brooklyn is one of the later iterations of the ARC. Many failed rent payments have caused previous versions of the ARC to be shut down. The ARC is filled with gaming consoles and dated televisions for the gamers to play on. This is the hub for the ?greatest gamers of all time.?
Rentpire Arcadia
Empire Arcadia, more specifically the members who live in the ARC, have had problems paying the rent and utilities in the past. With sponsorship money running thin and no way to compensate, Empire Arcadia responded by holding a ridiculous amount of tournaments in the New York City area to potentially win some rent money. (This will be later discussed in the ?Events? portion of the article.) The Empire Arcadia members who win tournaments are sometimes asked to donate a portion of their winnings to the ARC to keep things running. While this may be a favor or spelled out in a clause in their ?contract? it is unjust at least. It is blatantly obvious this happens, when Empire Arcadia members are asked to comment on this, the question is completely dodged. The goal of a company that supports gaming culture should not leech off of the winning players, it should reward them for doing well. This empiric structure only serves to feed the designed manipulative nature of Empire Arcadia: Triforce rules all.
Deterioration of the Empire
Recently Empire Arcadia has had many of it?s members leave the organization for a variety of reasons. Some were made public immediately and some were held back from the masses in fear of ?legal consequences.? Evil Geniuses made a huge dent in Empire Arcadia?s fighting game roster by signing Justin Wong, Martin ?Marn? Phan, and Ricky Ortiz. FLoE, FightingGM, and Arturo Sanchez have also declared that they are not affiliated with Empire Arcadia anymore. Arturo Sanchez left Empire Arcadia for Team Sp00ky, a gaming organization that runs on donations. There is no doubt that Empire Arcadia is deteriorating, and if nothing is done soon to correct this, Empire Arcadia will be a thing of the past.
Empiric Conspiracy
One of the many interesting aspects of Empire Arcadia is the mentality of it?s players. The players have been manipulated to the point where they think Empire Arcadia will be the key to their gaming success. Empire Arcadia does not cover their players travel costs, tournament entry fees, or cost of food per trip. So where are the benefits of being an Empire Arcadia member? When Empire Arcadia members are asked about things of this nature (anti-Empire Arcadia related subjects) they either become extremely defensive and attack you or they just completely dodge the question. One of the greatest question dodgers of all time is Triforce. His ability to weasel his way out of a question is unprecedented.
Generally speaking, many Empire Arcadia members shy away from speaking about the organization in it?s entirety as if they were rigorously trained to do so. Could this be a part of the Triforce brainwash program? Even when presented with hard evidence players still shy away from speaking bad about Empire Arcadia. It could be because they are immensely scared or it could also be the acknowledgement that what is being asked about or being said is in fact truth. Logically speaking, why would a person part of an organization or a person who was once part of an organization speak badly about it? In doing so they would be admitting that they were ignorant in joining the organization and would want to protect their reputation. Even members in the organization who see with their own eyes the living conditions, lifestyle, and business model of Empire Arcadia decide to remain willfully ignorant in thinking that Empire Arcadia will be their ticket to stardom. Perhaps the legal ramifications (if any) that Triforce threatens his beloved players with is what is stopping players from speaking their mind. It could be a clause in the alleged ?contracts? they are required to sign. While the validity of these contracts are questionable, there is no doubt that Triforce flexes his legal arm by threatening players who are trying to leave Empire Arcadia with lawsuits against their families. Countless claims and a uniform fear to quit the Empire leaves the community wondering ?What is the deal with Empire Arcadia??
Events
Empire Arcadia holds tournaments in the New York City area for a handful of games. Many would argue that this helps the community grow, while this may be true to an extent, the manner in which they are held is questionable. Let?s start with why Empire Arcadia holds said tournaments. It is pretty simple, self preservation. Since Empire Arcadia is home to some of the best gamers in New York City, the Empire Arcadia members that enter tournaments have a good chance of winning. Since Empire Arcadia potentially makes money with each Empire Arcadia member that wins, it would be in their best interest to hold as much tournaments as possible and flood the brackets with Empire Arcadia members to increase the chances of making money. One could view Empire Arcadia tournaments as rent collection sessions and nothing more.
While in Empire Arcadia events many new inexperienced players are treated with disrespect, some players are teased by being so politely informed that they ?wasted their 20 dollars.? This in turn discourages people from entering the fighting game scene and cuts off potential growth in the scene. The argument that Empire Arcadia events are ?for the community? is total garbage. The only reason Empire Arcadia holds tournaments is to make potential rent money and to confirm their dominance in various games. It is often heard that ?Empire Arcadia is here for the community, look at what we do.? The fact is to the uneducated mind incapable of critical thinking, it would seem that Empire Arcadia does help the community, when in reality it does not. The people have caught on to this and the turnout for Empire Arcadia events have dwindled down to embarrassing numbers. Empire Arcadia have effectively alienated their potential clients by treating them with disrespect.
Empiretube
Among the many laughable attempts to create a respectable media outlet, Empire Arcadia?s Twitter, Facebook, tournament ?epilogues and prologues?, and more importantly their Youtube account, are constantly filled with nonsensical content. If a company is to be taken seriously, they have to be extremely careful about what content is affiliated with them. A good portion of the media released by Empire Arcadia is fighting game related, but some of the media does not need to be on a gaming ?companies? media outlet. Said media only serves to embarrass the company and give the company a bad name.
Conclusion
While this article will most likely be closed at some point it is imperative that some points be made. It is often found that if something is exposed, the most common replied action would be to silence the exposure. Only in doing so, silencing the exposure adds to the validity of the content being presented. There is a very good chance that the same situation will occur to this article. Also, do not expect logical responses from this article. In most cases people will personally attack someone when they do not have a reasonable answer. With that being said, most of the replies to this article will be hate filled attacks that contribute nothing.
It is interesting to note that when a user posts something on the internet that the masses agree with and enjoy they are praised. There are no words associated with a ?pleasant poster.? However, when a user posts information that someone has a problem with for whatever reason (denial, embarrassment, ignorance, et cetera) they are immediately deemed a ?troll.? While that may be, we all know name calling gets people nowhere (I think this was kindergarden 101) yet people still partake in it.
Evidence
The content in this thread will be presented in the most efficient way possible. Youtube links will be set to the correct time, and quotes will be less fluff-filled.
Personal statement from FightingGM attesting to the alleged litigations being thrown around to Empire Arcadia members who are trying to leave.
“this is GM and yes everything in that article is true, 100 percent real and yes i was threatened. the end!” -Fighting GM
Confirmation that a portion of rent money was placed on Justin Wong’s shoulders.
[media=youtube]INOhG2WlttM#t=0m28s[/media]
Proof of the “Empiric Conspiracy” and the general fear of speaking bad about the regime. Arturo Sanchez asks to turn off the microphones in the Sp00ky stream.
[media=youtube]dHVzLyeJGPI#t=38m10s[/media]
EDIT: Arturo commented on this and had the following to say: “The only thing I said off mic was “are you sure you want me to do this? its going to create a lot of drama”” -Arturo “Sabin” Sanchez
An example of the nonsensical nature described in the “Empiretube” section.
[media=youtube]LpwVQ43SUOE"[/media]
Proof of the outstanding utility bills the ARC faces. This is only proof of the electric bill, be reminded that there is still heat, phone, internet, rent, food, and other bills to pay (Xbox Live subscriptions, et cetera). So the total bill per month is much higher. To quote Triforce “… at the end of this year, we are going to need 50 grand, if you [Justin Wong] don’t win the rent doesn’t stop.” So to do some basic math, 50 grand / 12 months = 4166. So the total utilites (estimate) for the ARC are around $5000.
Further proof of the manipulation of the player’s ideals, Triforce tells Justin Wong what to say when a specific question is asked.
[media=youtube]NCrE6HGRgM4&feature=related#t=0m36s"[/media]
Another example of Triforce molding his players. He tells Justin Wong (before he even plays his Gamestop finals match) "when you win it, give thanks to the community (Street Fighter) at the Gamestop finals. Just to be clear, this is before Justin played his match. This is an attribution to the general smugness of Triforce.
[media=youtube]NCrE6HGRgM4&feature=related#t=1m38s"[/media]
An example of the verbal diarrhea Triforce spews to his players. In the Jinx commercial Triforce says “It is not just about winning, it is what you do with that win.” This means absolutely nothing, the term “good luck” means more than that. This term must have been circled around in Empire Arcadia brainwashing seminars. Even Justin Wong ends up using the term, even though we all know it means absolutely nothing.
Triforce saying this in the Jinx commercial:
[media=youtube]dH-GZxPTP_4#t=0m16s[/media]
Justin Wong regurgitating the verbal diarrhea:
[media=youtube]INOhG2WlttM#t=1m19s[/media]
Interview with Tony B. where he speaks from personal experience on the nature of Triforce.
[media=youtube]2ynyiDaxKL8#t=2m0s"[/media]
This quote excerpt was taken from a Myspace post from Empire Arcadia on September 11th 2009. This serves to solidify the “Empiretube” section of the article.
"First, let me address this childish topic.
Males: Stop talking shit about girls being pro hoes, because if they were not giving you any nook nook you would not get any nook nook at all. Its sad that your using the fact that your either a pro at a game to get nook nook or because you make money off games to get nook nook.
Females: Stop calling other female PRO HOES, because 99% of you are all hoes. Stop trashing each other, you’re fucking up the game continue to do what you do and stop hating.
Over all Message: BE PROFESSIONALS! Keep your personal issues behind close doors and stop disrupting the game!" - Empire Arcadia (Myspace Bulletin)
